Reading time: 2 and a half minutes Is perfectionism spoiling your writing? Here’s what you can tell yourself to deal with that problem… I’ve made many mistakes in my life. One of the most embarrassing ones relates to my brief but exciting life as a newspaper books editor in 1984. […]
It’s a great day to make mistakes Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help writers. Today I discuss the recent foofaraw created by intemperate remarks from Canadian author David Gilmour… There are times to talk,
Not interested in teaching books by women Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. I comment today on a sentence written by American novelist John Williams. Every once in awhile, I like
Year by year, the earth would take them… Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a piece of personification by novelist Ian McEwan I’ve recently become intrigued by the trick of personification. Why does giving a human characteristic to an inanimate object, such as a
The figurative language of Ian McEwan… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: bildungsroman. My son is studying to become an opera singer so we hear lots of languages in our house — Italian, German, Spanish
What’s a bildungsroman? Read More »
Word count: 757 words Reading time: About 3 minutes Is there anyone — apart from school students — who doesn’t enjoy taking an easy, self-revealing test? Today, I’m giving you the chance to take a quick quiz for writers. Sharpen your pencils! If you want to be a better writer,
Test: are you a born editor or a born writer? Read More »
Word count: 239 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help writers. Today I discuss a post on punctuation that appeared in the Mental Floss blog. I hadn’t
Bring on the certitude point… Read More »
Word count: 320 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. I comment today on one written by Collum McCann. I tried reading the novel
And then my soul in a sling… Read More »
Word count: 232 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: balustrade. I’ve known for years — decades, even — that the group of spindles underneath the railing in
What’s a balustrade? Read More »
Word count: 626 words Reading time: About 2 and a half minutes Do you avoid your work because you fear a link between negative emotions and writing? If so, you’re likely losing the chance to achieve something really meaningful. I recently spent five days camping in the San Juan Islands
How to weather the rain in your writing life Read More »
